We live in an era where people like Justin Bieber, SoMo and Greyson Chance have become famous, in no small part, because of their Youtube covers.
Cover songs have been around for decades and sometimes the remake trumps the original track. This is where this blog comes in. It is here that we will stack these covers against their predecessors to determine which rendition of the song is truly better.
These covers will be judged according to the following: how well or badly the cover deviates from the original song, replay value and the cover’s ability to connect with the listener.
The mid 00s were the years where R&B music reigned supreme. Usher released “Confessions,” Chris Brown and Trey Songs had entered the scene and there was a brief resurgence of boy bands. Arguably one of the best R&B groups of the decade was B2K. The quartet, anchored by singer Omari “Omarion” Grandberry, broke up in 2004 citing internal disagreements as the cause. The break up represented the end of mainstream relevance for all of the members except for Omarion, who has released three solo albums and three collaboration albums since 2005.
On his second album “21,” Omarion released two singles named “Entourage” and “Ice Box.” The latter became the anthem for the broken hearted during the end of the year. The song was so popular it was covered by punk band There for Tomorrow in 2009 as a part of Fearless Records “Punk Goes Pop Vol. 2.”
A punk cover can’t be better than the R&B original can it? That’s what we’re here to figure out. I love this part.
Ready? Here we go.

Round 1: Deviation? Good or Bad?
The beat of “Ice Box” is another well-crafted work of art from producer and artist Timbaland. Fans of Omarion instantly hear the piano chords and remember the song as if it came out yesterday. The song resonated with listeners as it rose to number five on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. It was a game changer which made it okay to talk about being the guy who didn’t do something wrong in the relationship.
There for Tomorrow has never been one of the big name bands in punk music, but in 2009 they were definitely popular with an album released and an MTVU Woodie Award for breakout artist of the year.

Now their cover? The cover replaces those memorable keys for guitar chords and the sound of a full band. It’s clearly for a different genre of people, so keeping that in mind, the cover is a solid effort. Unfortunately, parts of the cover feel like words and chords. It’s the same pacing and a heavier breakdown, but none of it truly impresses me.
Point to the original. Score: 1-0
Round 2: Replay Value
Neither one of these songs are truly replay worthy. It really breaks down to which version you can stand to listen to more before becoming sad or annoyed. For me, that would be the original. I could give the point to Omarion, but I don’t feel like there’s a clear winner.
No points awarded. Score: 1-0
Round 3: Ability to connect with the listener
In that stage of R&B, it was all about how much soul and story could be put into a song. We were adjusted to songs about how a person wanted to be loved, but Omarion went deeper and told the tale of someone who gave everything they had to a relationship that was one-sided all along.
I’m not as invested with the cover because it fails to draw me in and capture an emotion. Whenever I hear the There for Tomorrow version of “Ice Box,” I feel like the song was thrown at the band instead of selected by them. I could be wrong about it, but it just falls flat. It’s like a straw, nice to have but you don’t really need it to drink do you?
Point to the original. Score 2-0 (If you’re a stickler for a full score then call it 3-0). Winner Omarion’s “Ice Box.”
Agree? Disagree? Tell me below in the comments section and suggest some other covers to listen to. Send me a tweet @Joshua_Jackson_. I’ll be back next week with another original pitted against its cover.